On February 26, 2007, with its 20th anniversary already approaching, the Florida Lottery was already showing some cracks. In a new statement, legislative auditors recommended new innovations to Governor Charlie Crist and the state legislators on how to keep the attention of the players in order for the games to continue producing an annual amount of over $1 billion in total revenues for public education.
Among the suggestions of the Office of the Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability are big jackpots, video ticker terminals, multi-state lotteries and even keno games to keep the players in the state interested. Lottery Secretary, Leo DiBenigno, commented that day that while the governor is opposed to expand gambling in the state, the Office of the Program Policy will further update the options.
DiBenigno also added that it will need legislative permission for keno and the video terminals to be permitted in the state with the lottery. DiBenigno said that they will be doing the things that do not need any legislative permission immediately and they are willing to cooperate with the legislation with anything that needs to be done.
Keno is an online and land based casino game that is like bingo and the lottery, which allows the user to pick their own numbers. DiBenigno also said that the governor is hoping that the lottery will be the main source of money for education plans, especially with the Bright Futures college scholarships. They are definitely serious about finding ways to maximize profits.
Thursday, March 22 , 2007
John Sullivan
